Defense Secretary Jim Mattis confirmed Wednesday that President Trump has given him the authority to set the number of troops in Afghanistan as the U.S. rethinks its strategy there.
Mattis said Trump made the decision at noon on Tuesday but said no decision on changes to the U.S presence was made amid reports the administration is weighing up to 5,000 additional troops.
The U.S. now has about 8,400 service members deployed to Afghanistan as part of its NATO Resolute Support mission, which commanders on the ground have called a stalemate.
“The delegation of this authority, consistent with the authority President Trump granted me two months ago for Iraq and Syria, does not at this time change the troop numbers for Afghanistan,” Mattis said.
During testimony to the Senate, the defense secretary declined to say the range of additional troops being considered for Afghanistan, where the U.S. has waged its longest war, and indicated his decision will still depend on input from Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
Any additional troops will also depend on the Trump administration’s highly anticipated new strategy in Afghanistan.
Mattis said he was working to complete the plan and will bring it to the president in the “coming weeks.”
On Tuesday, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., repeatedly criticized Mattis for delays following the deaths of three U.S. troops from what appeared to be an insider attack by an Afghan soldier last weekend.
The U.S. and Afghan forces are now locked in increasingly bloody battles with the Islamic State in eastern Afghanistan, even as the Taliban is resurgent in many areas of the country.
Sen, Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., praised Trump for the move and said it was a needed break from the Obama administration’s practice of maintaining troop caps.
“I’m glad that Trump is smart enough to understand that you know more than he does and he is empowering you to make us safe,” Graham said.
President Obama “just picked a number” to set the troop levels in Afghanistan and went against military advice when he pulled U.S. forces from Iraq following the end of the earlier war there, Graham said.
“Gen. Obama was a pretty lousy general,” he said.
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., noted that the move is an unconventional one.
“Usually these numbers have not been set by delegated authority” he said during the hearing.
Mattis said his new power was granted after months of discussions with the president on the U.S. strategy and is not a “carte blanche” for Afghanistan operations.
“The president is keenly interested, not in all the tactical details, but getting the strategy right and knowing enough of the tactical details that he is informed,” Mattis said. “He is a very active participant when we sit down.”
